by Know Common Cents » Mon Jul 08, 2013 7:47 pm
This is really nothing compared to the dramatic drops of the mid-1990s with the CDN $ vs US $. (I wish I could remember the years exactly, but I was really pleased to get about $1.56 CDN for every US buck I wanted to exchange. It was like everything was on sale. Bought a great set of luggage for my wife, Christmas gifts for everyone on the planet, some framed art and ate like a king on the cheap. That was a time, too, when the PST and GST were more generously refunded at the border without the high spending threshold.)
I, too, purchase CDN currency and coin of the realm. I pay $0.72 US for every CDN $1 face. For the currency, I pay $0.80 US per dollar. I've been able to purchase many of the 1954 series notes (including some of the devil's head ones) as well as some series 1937 at these prices. I get the occasional replacement note, too, which goes immediately into my collection.
With the cast-off currency and common circulating coins, I make a trip to Ontario at least 2X per year. I have an account at the Royal Bank of Canada (balance $17 CDN), but they let me bring in any amount of rolled coin I feel like as well as damaged currency. To the credit of the tellers at the RBC, they referred me to a local pawn shop for the mediocre series 1954 bills and was pleased to get $2-4 CDN for those (paid in CDN cash by the pawn shop...I have an active account there, too BTW).
Again, this drop is nothing. The US$ and the CDN$ are almost always on a see-saw. Just buy when the opportunities present themselves and smile.
KCC
"I don't know what I'm doin' but I'm sure havin' fun" Herman Munster
I've recently adopted the Groucho Marx philosophy for dealing with politics and other life challenges, "Whatever it is, I'm against it!" (Horse Feathers 1932)